VR FleetCare to continue maintaining Estonian railway operator's train bogies in Finland

Estonian railway company Elron has renewed maintenance contract of its Flirt train bogies with VR FleetCare after an international tender.

The three-year agreement covers the periodic maintenance of bogies and traction wheelsets for 38 Flirt trains. The bogie maintenance will take place at VR FleetCare's component workshop in Pieksämäki, where optimised production lines for bogie and wheelset maintenance have been established.

The bogie is a crucial component of rail vehicles both in terms of costs and operational safety. Bogies account for approximately one-fifth of the life-cycle costs of train rolling stock.

We are happy to continue our cooperation with VR FleetCare for the Elron trains components service. Earlier experience has shown that we can be confident in VR FleetCare as trustable partner," says Mark Pakin Elron’s Technical manager.

"We are truly pleased with the continuation of the agreement and the employment impact it has for us. The maintenance agreement for Elron's bogies and traction wheelsets is strategically important for us. Two years ago, we opened a new component workshop specialized in the maintenance of bogies and other components. Elron's decision to continue working with us reflects their strong confidence in our expertise and cost efficiency in component services," says Wilhelm Schevelew, Head of Sales of VR FleetCare.

VR FleetCare's production can address the maintenance needs of various types of rolling stock components

VR FleetCare has been maintaining the bogies of Elron's Flirt trains for five years, and this agreement ensures the continuation of this collaboration. The component workshop, opened two years ago, focuses specifically on the heavy maintenance of bogies and traction wheelsets, and it also handles bogies from other railway equipment.

"At VR FleetCare, we have extensive expertise in various types of rail vehicle bogies and other components. We provide maintenance for bogies of freight wagons, electric and diesel locomotives, electric trains, and passenger coaches under one roof. Our skilled workforce has taken concrete steps to enhance the efficiency and productivity of our production lines, enabling us to offer internationally competitive component maintenance services to our clients", says Juha Lintula, Head of Component Services at VR FleetCare.

The rolling stock operating in Finland has relatively many Flirt trains manufactured by Stadler and Siemens Vectron locomotives, which are also widely used in other European countries. Naturally, the bogies and components of these trains are of particular interest to the Head of Component Services.

"We possess expertise in maintaining components from several manufacturers' rolling stock. Now, the combination of our expertise in the maintenance of Flirt trains and Vectron components in locomotives and the European-wide market potential looks good. Expanding our capabilities to other types of rolling stock with this experience and expertise is also interesting to us," adds Lintula.

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